Issa wrote:
The summer mountain;
With each footstep seeing
More of the sea.
However one orients this in the mind, we can understand that as we ascend the warm mountain of summer, each step forward gives us a wider view of the distant sea, a cool yin to the warm yang of the summer mountain.
The setting is the summer mountain; the subject is the sea, and the action is “with each footstep seeing more.” Notice that two actions combine here, walking and seeing.
Notice also that it is not just a mountain; it is a summer mountain. We often find that intimate connection between season and thing in hokku. A summer mountain is quite different from a spring mountain, an autumn mountain, or a winter mountain.
David
